Reflecting the general weakness in the economy, mergers & acquisitions (M&As) involving domestic companies were down by 11.5% to $31.5 billion in the year just gone-by, the lowest since 2009 when it had stood at $21.5 billion.

According to data complied by Thomson Reuters, the number of deals also declined to 12.6% to 967 from 1,107 in 2012. During the fourth quarter of 2013, overall M&As totalled $7.1 billion, a 28.5% sequential increase over Q3, but a decline 29.8% from Q4 year-on-year.

The report also said the average M&A size climbed to $76.1 million, as more deals were announced above $1-billion mark, compared to $73.5 million in 2012.

Meanwhile, the economic slump had a larger impact on domestic M&As which plunged 69% to $5.2 billion in the year, which is the lowest since 2004 when it stood at $2 billion. The bulk of domestic activities were on the materials sector with deals worth $ 1.5 billion being clinched constituting 29.4 per cent of the total domestic M&As, but this again was a massive 75.4 per cent lower that 2012.

However, total across the board, M&As grew a healthy 56.8 per cent to $ 24.7 billion compared over 2012, driven by a 43.5 and 83.1 per cent increase in the inbound and outbound M&As, respectively.

Completed M&A deals involving domestic companies totalled $ 29 billion, up 49.5 per cent from $ 19.4 billion in 2012.

Energy and power sectors lead the M&A street with 21.1 per cent market share or worth $ 6.7 billion, which is a whopping 173.3 per cent increase over 2012.

The second slot was occupied by the healthcare players, capturing 15.8 per cent of the total with $ 5 billion worth of deals, up 24.5 per cent from the previous year.